Onion snipper



March 26, 1935. w, E. uRscHEL 1,995,694

ONI ON SNIPPER Filed Dec. '7, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 26, 1935.- wE'. URSCHEL 1,995,694

l I oNIoN SNIPPER Filed Dec. 7,/ 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 34 I f6 \\\an 'L6*ai l Y Hc. 7

. IN VEN TOR BY 1/1//7//0/77 E. 0fach/ ATTOR.;f

March 26, 1935.

/ l l l oy sian f /af Flc. l0

w. E. URscHEL 1,995,694

ONION SNIPPER Filed Dec. 7, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 BY #fa/77E. l fce/ f uf ATTO '5 EY Patented Mar. 26, 1935 Y UNITED STATES PATENT GFFlE oNIoNsNIPPER William E. Urschel, Valparaiso, Ind.

Application December 7, 1932, Serial No. 646,057

14 Claims. (Cl. 14S- 83) The present invention relates to an apparatuserating and onion grasping and centering means; for snipping or shearingtops and roots from and onions. Figure 15 is a partial section of theonion carry- The objects of the invention includezing drum, illustratingthe shape of the onion A simple and eiiicient machine, entirelyautopockets. 5

matic in its operation, of the class described to Similar numerals referto similar parts snip tops and roots from onions. throughout the severalViews and in the descrip- A feeding hopper to automatically feed onionstion of the invention which follows. into a revolving drum containingrecessed pockets Two legs or standards, 14 and 15, and transadaped toreceive such onions. verse members 16, 17, and 13, are bolted together1() Means for intermittently actuating a drum and 0r otherwise joined(Figures 1 and 2), to conpositioning pockets in said drum. stitute aframework for the machine. The leg Means for alining tops and roots ofonions in or side member 14 has two alined hearings 19 drum pockets sothat their tops and roots are in and (Figure 2) formed therein.` Thereinis 15 radial alinement with the axis of the drum, a journalled a driveshaft 21 extending outwardly 15 position in which they may be mostfavorably beyond both of said bearings. A drive pulley 22 acted upon bya shipping means. is secured to one end of shaft 21.

Means for operating reciprocating knives to At the opposite end of shaft21 is a pin 23 simultaneously snip the tops and roots from secured in aneccentric manner to provide a re- Co onions in drum pockets. ciprocatingmovement for a portion of the here- 2o A means to eject onions frompockets in a drum inafter described automatic feeding hopper 24.A into adischarge chute after the tops and roots Also pinned to the sameshaft 21is a worm 25 in have been removed by the snipping means, meshingrelation with a worm gear 26 secured These objects are attained by themechanism to a transverse shaft 27 journalled in bearings gf,illustrated in the accompanying drawings em- 28 and 29 formed in thelegs 14 and 15. 25 bodying one formof the invention, and in which:Loosely mounted on shaft 27 is a drum or cyl- Figure 1 is a' frontelevation of a machine erninder 30 open at one end and closed at theother bodying the invention with the means for posiby means of a wall3l. Integral with and extendtioning onions in the drum pockets thereofreing inwardly from wall 31 is a long hub 32 pro- ;:o moved; viding abearing for the said drum 30.` The 3o Figure 2 is a side elevationof thecomplete drum 30 is held against lengthwise movement machine shown inFigurel; along shaft 2'! by hubs on eccentric 33 and Figure 3 is a planview of the mechanism used cam 34. for operating the onion positioningmeans; The circumferential wall 35 of the drum 30 is 3,-, Figures 4 and5 are diagrammatic views showprovided with a plurality of circularopenings 35 ing the fingers of the onion positioning mechaor pockets 36disposed in longitudinal rows. The nism in both open and closedpositions; pockets 36 are formed with enlarged openings at Figure 6 is asectional View of the onion positheir outer ends and smaller openings attheir tioning apparatus taken on the line 6--6 of Figinner portions. Theouter portion of the pock-y -m ure 3 looking in the direction indicatedby arrows; ets are adapted to receive the body of the onion 40 Figures 7and 8 are diagrammatic views illusbut the inner portion is of a somewhatsmaller trating the manner in which the ngers of the diameter allowingonly asmall portion of the positioning mechanism aline the onions in theonion to project through the circumferential drum pockets; drum wall 35.v r. Figure 9 is an end elevation. of the automatic Referring to Figure15, it can be seen that since 4f' feeding hopper; the outer openings ofthe pockets 36 are only Figures 10 and 11 are plan views of the upperlarge enough to admit the body of the onion that reciprocating knivesand their operating mechunless the root or top of the onion enters theanism in two positions; pocket rst the onion cannot enter the pocket. 5oFigure 12 is a plan view of the lower reciprocat- Figures 7 and 8illustrate onions that have entered 50 ing knives and their operatingmechanism; pockets 36, root rst.

Figure 13 is a sectional view of the machinev Extending outwardly aroundthe circumference taken on the line iii-,13, Figure 1, in the direcofwall 31 on the drum 30 are a plurality of protion indicated by karrows;jections 37 (Figure 14) so shaped as to form'slots Figure 14 is an endelevation of the drum op- 36, corresponding in number to thelongitudinal 55 rows of pockets 36 on the surface of the drum and alsoin longitudinal alinement with said rows of pockets. An eccentric lever40 is secured at one end to the eccentric 33 which is pinned to shaft27, by means of a plate 4l, said plate being fastened by cap screws 130to the eccentric 33.

The said lever 40 is also pivotally secured to cross head 39 by a pin42, The intermittent revolving action of the drum is produced by the pin43 secured to the eccentric arm 40 engaging successively with the slots38 as the said eccentric arm reciprocates in an upward and downwardmotion due to the action of the eccentric 33.

The automatic feed hopper 24, Figures 2 and 9, consists of two sections,one portion stationary and the other reciprocating. The stationaryportion is made up of two parallel longitudinally disposed side members44, transverse end member 45, and the bottom member 50. The latter issecured at one end by the rivets 47 t0 the shaft 48 and at the other endby the member 49 so formed as to produce a transverse groove inconjunction with member 46 to which it is secured.

The shaft 48 is reciprocally mounted in the oppositely disposed straps51 secured to the side members 44. rlhe reciprocation of the bottommember 46 is attained by means of the connecting arm 52 pivotallysecured at one end to the pin 23 eccentrically mounted upon the extendedend of shaft 21, and pivotally connected to the angle 53 by means of pin54, said angle 53 being in turn secured to the bottom member 50. Thehopper 24 is held in an inclined position by two oppositely disposedbrackets 55 secured to side members 44 and bolted to the transversemember 18.

To be most favoraby acted upon by the cutting or shearing means, theonions in the pockets 36 should be centered in the said pockets with thetop and root portion of the onion in radial alinement with the axis ofthe drum as illustrated in Figure 8. This centering and alining isaccomplished by means of a plurality of semicircular fingers 56, Figures4 and 5, operating in pairs, one end of each said finger being mountedin such manner as to revolve about oppositely disposed axes, formingbetween them as one passes over the other elliptical openings of varyingdimensions depending upon the angle of rotation of said fingers aboutthe oppositely disposed axes.

The fingers 56 are secured in any conventional manner to brackets 57,Figure 6, which in turn are pinned to a shaft 58 journalled in acrosshead The crosshead 59 is provided with integral sleeves 6() and 61,Figures 2, 3 and 14, which are adapted to slide upon guides 62 and 63,Figure 2, secured to the transverse frame member 18 by means of pins 64and 65. The crosshead 59 is reciprocated by the connecting army 66,Figure 14, pivotally connected at one end to Said crosshead by the pin67 and pivotally connected at the other to eccentric strap 40 by meansof a pin 68.

I'he guides 62 and 63 are parallel to radial lines passing through thecenter of the pockets 36 when said line is at an angle equal to theangular spacing of said pockets along the circumference of the drum 30,from a vertical line passing through the axis of said drum. A squareguide pin 69 (Figure 14) which is'fastened near the outer end of thereciprocating crosshead 39, engages with the slots 38 formed on the endWall 31 of the drum 30. The lower end of said guide pin 69 is slightlytapered to allow the guide pin to enter the slots 38 in case of a slightmisalinement of said slots with the guide pin.

Since the slots 38 are in longitudinal alinement with the rows ofpockets 36, the centers of said pockets at the top of the drum are invertical alinement with the axis of the drum 30 when the guide pin 69 isengaged with the slots Therefore, since the top row of pockets 36 are invertical alinement with the axis of the drum, axial lines through thecenters of the pockets in the row next in rotation to the said top roware inclined at the same angle as are the guides 62 and 63, so that asthe crosshead 59 is reciprocated in an upward or downward motion, thecentering fingers 56 are always in a plane at right angles to the axiallines passing through the center of said rows of pockets.

When the centering lingers 56 are lowered next to the surface of thedrum, they are in open position as shown in Figures 5 and 7. While thedrum is held in a stationary position by the guide pinv 69, the fingers56 are rotated toward each other by the shafts 58 diminishing the sizeof the opening between them as shown in Figure 4. Therefore, as thefingers 56 close in, they aline the top and roct of the onion as shownin Figure 8, the shafts 58 moving upwardly in the cross-head 59 as theopening between said fingers becomes smaller.

The crosshead 59 is then raised by connecting arm 66, the drum 30revolved until the next row of pockets is in alinement with the guidepin 69, and the above cycle of operation is repeated.

The shafts 58 are rotated by lever arms 72 secured to said shaft by pins73 which in turn are operated by a reciprocating member 74 by means or"pins 75 rotatably mounted in said reciprocating members and secured tolever arms 72 by pins 76.

The pins 75 are also mounted in the reciprocating member 74 in suchmanner as to allow said pins to raise in conjunction with the shafts 53.The straps '77 and 82 secured to the crosshead 59 hold the reciprocatingmember 74 in position while it is being reciprocated by means of thehereinafter described reciprocating angle 78 (Figure 2) engaging withthe lug 79 welded or otherwise secured to one end of said reciprocatingmember, and the tension spring 80, Figure 3, secured at one end to strap77 and at the other to strap 81 welded or riveted to said reciprocatingmember 74.

Before the onions in the top row of drum pockets 36 are acted upon bythe cutting or shipping mechanism, the onions are grasped and held inposition by the sleeves 82 (Figures l, 8 and 13) which are reciprocallymounted in the crosshead 39 held in position by the collars 83 securedto said sleeves by set screws, said collars bearing against sleeves 84resting upon the integral lower member 85 of the crosshead 39. Thecollars 83 are held in position against sleeves 84 by the compressionspring 86, an arrangement whereby the sleeves 82 may be retarded whenthe crosshead 39 is lowered, to prevent crushing the onions in pockets36 but allowing enough pressure to hold the onion firmly in position.

The shafts 70 and 71 are secured in the integral sleeves 87 and 88 ofthe crosshead (Figure l) by means of pins 89 and 90, and reciprocallymounted in bearings 91 and 92 in the upper transverse frame member 17(Figure 11) and the bearing 93 formed in the lower transverse framemember 16. The crosshead 3 is reciprocated by means of the heretoforedescribed eccentric lever 40 secured to said crosshead by pin 42.

The upper cutting or shipping means consists of a plurality of flatsemi-circular knives 93, Figures `1, 10 and 13, riveted or otherwiseattached to brackets 94, said brackets being pinned to the shafts 95,rotatably mounted in the crosshead-39 and collars 83 (Figure 13) andheld in position by pins 96 and washers 97. The knives are operated bymeans of plate 98 (Figures 10, 11 and 13) bolted to reciprocatingshaft99, slots 100 in said plate 98 engaging with the rounded portions of thebrackets`94 at the point 101 (Figure 13).

Reciprocating shaft 99 (Figure 1l) is mounted in the bearings 130 and102 formed in the transverse frame member 17. yTo prevent said shaft 99from rotating, a connecting member 103 secured by pins 104 and 106couples said shaft with a short shaft 105 reciprocally mounted inbearing 107 formed in the frame member 17. The aforementionedreciprocating'member 78 is secured tothe member 103. The shaft 99 isreciprocated by the leverv 108 (Figure 1) pivotally mounted upon the pin110 secured to the frame member 17, the slotted end of said leverengaging with the pin 109 secured in shaft 99.

The oscillation of said lever arm 108 to produce reciprocating motionforshaft 99 is accomplished by the engagementof the slot in the extendedportion of arm 108 with the pin 111 (Figures 1 and 12) secure-d to plate112 reciprocated by the cam 113 meshing with said plate at the point114. The knives 93 travel in an arcuate path entering the sleeves 82through openings 115 (Figure 13) thel V-shaped cutting edges at 116shearing olf the portion of 'the onion protruding into said openings115. f

To clear said openings 115 of sheared portions of onions and to preventonions fromlodging in sleeves 82, plungers -117 (Figure 1) reciprocallymounted in the sleeve 82 have been provided, said plungers being pinnedto a crossbar 118. The crossbar 118 is reciprocated by the cam 34through a rod 119 fastened to said crossbar by pin 120, said rod 119being reciprocally mounted in the frame member 17 at 121.

The lower shears'or knives 122 (Figures 12 and 13) are of angularsection having V-shaped cutting edges at points 123, said knives 122being bolted or otherwise secured to holder member 124. The knifeholder. member 124 is reciprocally mounted upon a shaft 127 extendinginwardly from the leg or standard 14, and secured to said leg by pin125. To prevent the said holder from rotating, another short shaft128extending outwardly and parallel to shaft 127 is secured to a lug on thelower portion of one end of said holder by a pin 131, said shaft 128also being reciprocally` mounted in the leg 14.

The knives 122 are reciprocated by the cam 113 which meshesV with a slotin the plate 112 at point 114, said plate being bolted to the knifeholder When the onions have been acted upon bythe cutting and snippingmeans, they remain inV the pockets 36 until said pockets pass below thehori- Zontal center of the drum 30 allowing the onions to releasethemselves. When released, they fall upon a conventional discharge chute125 (Figure 2) lat one side of said drum and bolted or otherwisefastened to the legs or standards 14 and 15, the onions being dischargedfrom said chute into any suitable receptacle.

- In event that any of the onions become lodged in the pockets 36 theyare released by a plurality of ejector pins 126 (Figures 1 and 13)fastened to a crosshead 127 extending inwardly from the lower end of thereciprocating shaft 71 and secured thereto by a pin 128. The ejectorpins126 correspond in number vto thenumber of pockets 36 in eachlongitudinal row of pockets on the drinn 30 and are raised and loweredby the action of the reciprocating shaft 71. Said pins 1126 eject anyonions that are lodged in the longitudinal rowof pockets positionedbeneath the said ejector pins. The ejector pins 126 are held secured inthe crosshead 127 by means of a `nut 129 in threaded engagemenbwith oneend of said pin and the shoulder on said pin at the point 132 (Figure13). y

The onions, when placed in the inclined hopper 24, roll toward the drum30 and are agitated back and forth in the reciprocating portion of saidhopper until the onions enter the pockets 36 in the said drum. Since thediameter of the outer end of the pockets is equal to the body of theonions, the onions must enter the pockets either root or top portionrst. Generally the root portion enters rst because the roots do notextend out from the body of the onion as do the tops. As the drum isintermittently revolved by the action of pin 43 engaging with the drumslots 38, said pin being reciprocated by the eccentric strap because ofthe action of eccentric 33, empty rows of pockets are presented to thefeeding hopper to be filled with onions.

The pulley wheel 22pinned to shaft 21 furnishes the means to apply powerto said machine. The worm 25 pinned to shaft 21 rotated by the pulley 22meshes with the worm gear 26 attached to the shaft 27, thus providingthe means to rotate said shaft 27 upon which the heretofore mentionedeccentric 33 is attached. The loaded pockets 36 pass onto the centeringiingers 56, the drum revolving in the direction indicated in Fig-` ure14.

When the onions are positioned beneath said centering fingers 56, thecrosshead 59 is moved downward by the connecting member 66 until saidlingers come in contact with the surface of the drum 30. Thereciprocating angle 78 then pushes against the lug 79 secured to thereciprocating member 74 operating the arms 72, thus causing the` fingers56 to close in as shown in Figure 4.

Referring to Figures 4, 5, 7 and 8, it can be seen that as the size ofthe elliptical opening between the iingers 56 diminishes, thesaidfingers come in contact with the top or root portion of the onionprotruding beyond the outer edge of the pocket 36. The said iingers bearagainst the protruding portion of the onion and are forced upward asthey close in due to the conical shape of the end of the onion andbecause the pressure of said fingers against the sides of the onion isnot great enough to grasp said onion.

This operation alines the onions in the pockets 36 in such manner thatthe top and root portions of ysaid onions are in alinement with aradialline passingv through the center of said pockets. The centeringmechanismis then raised by the connecting members 66 and the fingersagain opened by the action of the spring 80 on the reciprocating member.

The onions then move onto the cutting Vmeans at the top of said drum.The pockets at the top of the drum are positioned directly beneath thesleeves 82 by the guide pin 69 engaging with the said slots 38 in thedrum 30. The said guide pin secured in crosshead 39 is in longitudinalaline-- ment with the row of- `sleeves 82 thus providing positivealinement for the said sleeves :and the drum pockets. g

When thus alined, the sleeves 82 are lowered upon the onion by theaction of the connecting member 66 secured to eccentric strap 40 uponthe crosshead 39. The onions are held firmly in pockets 36, the pressureupon said onions being regulated by the tension in springs 85. The upperand lower knives 93 and 122 are then simultaneously operated by thereciprocating action of shafts 99 and 127, respectively, and arereciprocated by the action of cam 113 pinned to the shaft 27. After theonions have been snipped by the said knives, the sleeves 82 are raisedby crosshead 39, the drum revolved until the next row of pockets isalined with said sleeves and then the above mentioned operation cycle isagain repeated.

While the sleeves 82 are raised, the plungers 117 eject the snippedportion of the onion or even an onion that might become lodged in thesleeves 82 and then are raised up into sleeves 82 out of operatingposition. The crosshead 118 is reciprocated by the rod 119 acted upon bythe cam 34 secured to the shaft 27. The onions remain in the pocketsuntil they have passed the horizontal center of the drum when saidpockets are inverted due to the revolution of said drum, releasing theonions in said pockets.

The released onions dropping from said pockets are caught by thedischarge chute 125 from which they are directed into any suitablereceptacle. In event any of the snipped onions become lodged in saidpockets, they are ejected by the ejector pins 126 on the crossbar 127,said crossbar being reciprocated by the shaft 71.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. In an onion snipping apparatus, a drum rotatable upon a horizontalaxis and having a pocket opening to both the internal and externalperiphery thereof, means for intermittently rotating said drum, andcutting instrumentalities upon the outside and upon the inside of saiddrum and operable when said drum is stationary to concurrently shearopposed sections of an onion while contained in said pocket.

2. In combination, a carrier having a pocket to receive an individualonion, means for alining a selected axis of the onion with the radius ofsaid pocket after disposition therein, and knives at opposite sides ofsaid pocket for shearing sections from the onion after alinement.

3. In combination, a drum having pockets to receive individual objectspossessing a longitudinal axis, means in association with said drum andadapted to operate upon such objects whereby to aline the longitudinalaxes of the objects with the radius of said drum subsequently todisposition in said pockets, means for holding the object in said pocketafter alinement, and shearing means operable upon said object while soheld.

4. In combination, a drum having pockets to receive individual objectspossessing a longitudinal axis, means in association with said drum andadapted to operate upon an object subsequent to disposition in one ofsaid pockets whereby to aline the axis of the object with the radius ofsaid drum, means for engaging said object to maintain the alinedposition thereof, and shearing means about the exterior periphery andother shearing means about the interior periphery of said drum operablesimultaneously upon the object while in such alinement in said pocket.

5. In a device for topping onions, a drum having pockets extendingtherethrough to receive such onions, means for arranging the onions withtheir longitudinal axes radially of said drum after disposition in saidpockets, knives adjacent the exterior periphery, and other knivesadjacent the interior periphery of said drums for shearing opposite endsof the alined onions.

6. In combination, a drum having pockets therein, means guiding articlesinto said pockets, means operating subsequently to the disposition ofthe articles in such pockets for positioning such articles with theirlongitudinal axes coinciding with the radius of the drum, shearing meanswithin and without the drum for operating upon articles in said pockets,and means for discharging from the pockets articles after they have beenacted upon by said knives.

7. In combination, a drum having alined pockets, means for loadingarticles into said pockets, means for disposing such articles in thepockets in axial alinement with the radius of the drum, means forholding the articles in each of said pockets, shearing means operablewithin and operable without said drum for shearing opposed sections ofsaid articles, means for ejecting the sheared articles from the pockets,and means for ejecting refuse from said holding means.

8. In combination, a drum having alined pockets, means for loading saidpockets, means for disposing articles loaded into said pockets in axialalinement with the radius of the drum, means for holding articles insaid pockets, shearing means operable within and other means operablewithout said drum for shearing opposed sections from said articles,means for ejecting sheared articles from the pockets, and means forejecting refuse from said holding means.

9. In a device for snipping onions, a member having onion-holdingpockets opening to either side thereof, stations about said member,means for advancing said holding member intermittently to successivelypresent said pockets at said stations, means for depositing onions insaid pockets at the first of said stations, means at the second of saidstations for arranging the deposited onions with their principal axesextending perpendicularly through said pockets, and means at either sideof said member and at the third of said stations for shearing portionsof such onions projecting from said pockets.

10. In a device for snipping onions, a rotatable drum having pocketsopening to the internal and external periphery thereof, stations aboutsaid drum, means for rotating said drum for the successive registrationof said pockets with said stations, means at the first of said stationsfor depositing the onions in the pockets, means at the second of saidstations for arranging the deposited onions with their principal axesradially of the drum, and means at the third of said stations forsimultaneously snipping opposed ends of the onions.

1l. In an onion topping device, an intermittently movable cylindricaldrurn having pockets each to receive an individual onion, means mountedfor movement to and from a position adjacent the periphery of said drumfor shearing sections of onions in said pockets and movable alternatelywith the movement of said drum, and means for imparting movement to saiddrum and said shearing means.

12. In an onion snipping device, an intermittently movable cylindricaldrum rotating on a horizontal axis and having pockets, each of saidpockets being adapted to receive a single onion; shearinginstrumentalities mounted for movement radially of said drum to and froma position adjacent the periphery thereof and adapted to shear portionsfrom said onion in said pockets While in a position adjacent said drum,and means for moving said instrumentalities alternately with respect tothe movement of said drum.

13. In an onion snipping device, an onion holding member having pockets,means for feeding onions into said pockets, means operable after theonions are in said pockets for orientating -such onions with theirprincipal axes approximating the axes of said pockets, and shearingmeans at opposite sides of said holding member and adapted to shearportions from the opposite ends of the orientated onions.

14. In combination, a drum having peripheral pockets, means fordepositing objects in said pockets, means for orientating the depositedobjects with their principal axes radially of said drum,

and means for shearing simultaneously the op- 10

